Lost
by kbeto
Summary: "Lost [lɒst] adjective. No longer in the possession, care, or control of someone or something." Danny will learn that sometimes to lose is to find. As long as nobody's dead or have their head hanging on a wall. Flones with tiny doses of Pudd. Rated T, but it could be lower, I guess. Rewrite of the story of same name posted a few months ago. Table #1, entry #7.


_Disclaimer: Searching for a magic lamp to make me own everything in here. But until then..._

_A/N: I told you I wasn't satisfied with the first version of Lost. Here is another one (but it maintains the basic premise, and it's basically the same story but with expanded plot (~2k to ~3k in length), few changes and new characters showing up). Prompt table #1, entry #7! Thank you all for reading (again)!_

_**Anonymous**__ BWAhaha! Not at all, there are really few things that creep me out. :P Nope, no 50 shades of grey from me ever, don't worry!_

_Yeah, Harry just wanted Dougie's opinion and he thinks he wants something perverted! *scoffs at him* "Looks like the costume shop had a sale." I cried. BWAhaha! Ugh, I don't need all these feels of Harry in a cop suit. Nope, nope, nope. *flies into the sun before getting consumed by feels*_

_**Marvin Fletcher**__ I guess you can read 'Celestial' before 'Devil', but I also think you should have read them in order. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D And you shouldn't worry about me taking anything in the wrong way, I told you already, I never do. ;) The expression you cited is both used in English (not sure if applies to British and American) and in my mother language, that's why I added it. Maybe you're just not familiar with it?_

_That Tom is a tad different from all others, that's why isn't strange for him to have a cricket bat at home. But I reckon he uses more for self defence than anything else. BWAhaha!_

_And you are absolutely correct about 'HDIYF?': Dougie was just __**too**__ sure about Tom forgiving Danny... he knew exactly what his advice meant! Naughty boy! ;) Thank you so much!_

Lost

Fucked. 'Fucked' would be the best word to put it simple how much in trouble Danny would be with Harry, his best mate. Said best mate from whom he had borrowed a bike that was now nowhere to be found, despite being sure he had it securely chained to a metallic pole just outside his window.

"Hazza's going to kill me! He'll cut my head off and shove it up my arse!" The boy exasperatedly ran a hand through his thick curls, feeling a bit sick about imagining how pissed Harry would be. To make things even worse, his chain and padlock were completely intact, not a single sign of being forced open.

Conformed to his destiny and imminent doom, Danny fished his phone from his pocket and sighed when he read a text from Harry –who was unaware of the latest happenings– and put himself to march to his friend's house. They didn't live too far away from each other, and within ten minutes the curly-haired boy was standing in front of the almost mansion-like house.

_Harry may want to kill me. I love you and mum. Xx_

He sent what would be his last text ever to his sister, shoving his phone back into his pocket and ringing the door bell. Footsteps were heard from inside, getting louder as they neared the entrance, and the door flung open to reveal a handsome brunet with wet dripping hair and bright smile.

"Took you long enough," Harry laughed, pulling Danny into a bone-crushing hug. He could sense the body in his arms all tensed up, and when Danny didn't really reciprocate his action, he pulled away to look his friend in the eye. "What's wrong, Dan?"

"Can I come in? I have not so good news for ya."

Harry nodded apprehensively and they made the way upstairs to his room, where Danny started telling everything that had happened. When he finally finished his story, Harry looked as pale as he had just seen a ghost.

"You WHAT? Dan, Dad's going to kill me!"

"I said the same thing about you, but I'm still alive."

"Not for long!" Harry lunged himself over Danny and caught him in a headlock. With his free hand he started to mercilessly tickle the other boy until both were exhausted and grinning on the floor like two idiots.

"We are so fucked, right?" Danny chuckled, tilting his head sideways to hit Harry's.

"And dead!" He mimicked Danny's action. "We better go look for that bike before we have our skin and heads hanging on a wall in Dad's trophy room," he said, both shuddering at the terrifying thought.

~#~

"Why me?"

"Because you're a better Oliver Twist than I am," Dougie replied idly, not lifting his eyes from his handheld game, and sprawled across Buzz Lightyear covers.

Whatever he was playing, seemed far more interesting than giving Tom a better reason to why he was chosen to gave that bike (they stole the night before) back to its owner. Maybe saying they stole the bike is a bit too much, since they had no intention on keeping it from the very beginning, but it didn't change the fact they had someone else's belonging is their possession.

"Should I remind you whose fault is it?" Tom threw a rolled up sock at Dougie's head. If he still had to go through with that shameful act, he would at least make his dissatisfaction about it be known.

"_Daijoubu!_" Dougie smiled, putting the device in his hands down. He had that over enthusiastic vibe about him, like whenever he's about to buy a challenge. "I'm sure you're just worrying too much."

Perhaps the Goddess of good fortune would be on their side and they would put all that story behind, and in a few years laugh about it and tell their grandchildren all about it. Okay, maybe not _all_ about it.

"It's clear to me that this friendship will get us in jail or dead. Whichever comes first," Tom sighed, taking a skateboard from under his bed. "Try not to break anything, okay?"

"I'll take care of your room like it was mine!"

"That's exactly why I told you that."

~#~

The brunet duo decided that moping around wouldn't help them in finding the bike –and save their lives– , so they decided to what seemed like a logical decision and went on a investigation of their own. Obviously, the start point would be Danny's house, where Harry's bike had last been seen.

"I told you everything looks normal, it's almost as they had the key–"

"Is that a mate of yours, Dan?" Harry pointed to a blond guy with spiky hair and round face leaving the Jones' front porch. Danny just shook his head in response and they started running towards the stranger.

"Hey! Stop right there!" Danny yelled, giving chase to the suspicious boy. Unfortunately, he had a skateboard, and they lost him after crossing an alleyway.

"Fuck, he must be the bike thief!" Harry punched his own thigh in frustration, his mouth tasting sourness from defeat, since they got so close to catching their first and only suspect. Without any other clues, they went back to Danny's place.

"Not sure about the 'thief' bit. Look, Haz."

A few feet from them, there it was, Harry's bike properly chained and with a envelope that reads 'sorry :)'. Danny opened it and took a little note from inside. It was written in neat calligraphy and extremely polite in its contents.

_I'm so sorry for borrowing your bike without asking. To make up for all the trouble you must have had, here are two coupons for a meal at Fletcher's. :)  
Again, I'm sorry!_

"He's polite for a thief, isn't he?" Harry knit his eyebrows together, going to check his bike. Danny, in the other hand, was much more intrigued why someone (apparently) so nice would even steal something.

~#~

A week passed before Danny decided to verify the legitimacy of his gift. He had called Harry and they were going to meet there, agreeing on taking some money with them, just in case they had been duped.

The restaurant was famous for his delicious food, and Harry had been there a few times with his family, but never with someone his own age. They crossed the double glass doors and walked up to a woman with warm smile behind a small counter near the entrance.

"Welcome to Fletcher's, how can I help you?" Louise –as her tag read– smiled at them.

"Hi, we got these coupons for a meal–"

"You are friends with young Thomas, yeah? He's actually here with his other friend." Louise beamed even brighter, cutting Danny before he could explain everything. He was about to protest and ask _"who the hell is Thomas?"_, when Harry just stomped his foot and took over the conversation.

"We would like to sit with him, is that a problem?"

"Not at all, I'll just call someone to take you two there," she said, raising a finger in the air. Promptly, a guy named Sebastian showed up and greeted the boys with a nod. "Sebastian, these are Thomas' friends, take them to his table, please?"

Sebastian nodded again, asking both boys to follow him. They crossed the restaurant and in a few seconds they were near a table where two blond boys were chatting enthusiastically, one of them being immediately recognised by Danny; he wouldn't forget that face easily. They thanked Sebastian for his help and went to sit with their 'friends'.

"Hello, Thomas. How are you, _mate_?" Harry smirked, taking the seat beside the unknown, shorter blond. Danny did the same to Thomas, effectively trapping them against the window.

"Tom, you know these two?"

The colour drained from Tom's features, his palms getting incredibly cold and sweaty. It was obvious that he recognised Danny and Harry as well, but he was trapped and couldn't start a scene inside his grandmother's restaurant.

"How–"

"We showed Louise these and she asked if we were friends," Danny spoke, flashing two blue coupons in front of Tom's brown eyes. He felt sort of bad for making the boy uncomfortable, the blond seemed rather nice.

"And now, we're going to have a nice lunch and then talk about a certain stolen bike," Harry smiled wickedly, raising his hand to order their food. He was having too much fun with Tom's astonished expression.

~#~

"So, it's all Douglas' fault?"

"It's not like I just go around stealing other people's stuff, you know? And I _knew_ it was a very bad idea, I can't understand why I let him convince me otherwise," Tom took another bite of his pizza, all the while glaring at Dougie, his best mate, sitting across from him.

"_Gomennasai, Harry-kun,_" Dougie purred.

Harry and Danny looked confused, and Tom just rolled his eyes. "He's on his _weeaboo_ phase, don't mind his broken Japanese. But he's right, I'm sorry," he explained whilst wearing an unamused expression.

"You can call me _Dougie-chan,_ _Harry-kun_!" he all but cuddled to Harry's side, making both blush a little, albeit for different reasons.

"The owner's your nan? That's so cool!" Danny smiled earnestly. "It must be the best thing to be able to eat for free in one of the city's best restaurants. And they have pizza, too!"

"Thanks, Daniel," he lowered his eyes, pinks reddening a bit.

The foursome talked for a good two hours, hearing all the events that led to the blond duo stealing Harry's bike from Danny's house, and to why Louise thought they were all friends: Dougie was too drunk one night after a party and Tom had to take him home (which was rather difficult, since he could barely stand up). They were passing by Danny's house when Dougie suggested to 'borrow' the bike and give it back the next day.

"It's not a talent that I really use, but I know how to pick locks," Tom sighed. "The rest you already know. I should have given you the regular coupons and not the blues ones, those are meant only for friends and family."

"_Oretachi wa tomodachi, ne?*****" _Dougie placed his head on Harry's shoulder, making the other two laugh at the brunet's embarrassment.

"New faces? I don't remember my boys hanging with such gorgeous lad before," an old lady with warm eyes interrupted them, approaching the boys' table and giving Tom a sly smile.

Danny and Harry gave each other confused looks, all the while avoiding the question that was on their minds. Probably their faces reflected it, because the joyful woman with silvery hair only chuckled and grabbed their chins, inspecting both faces for something they didn't know what.

"Hey, Nan," Tom gently pried her hand from Danny's chin, unveiling her identity to the other two. "I didn't know you were here today!"

"_Obaa-san!_" Dougie, cheered from the other side, grinning widely in response.

"Yeah, I actually had an idea I wanted to discuss with my chefs," she let go of Harry, as well, frowning for an instant, like she had just remembered of something to do. "But who are the gorgeous lads with you? I don't remember any mention of any boyfriend! Or friend with benefits!"

The reactions on the table were rich in variety, since none of them expected such a blunt and absurd question/statement. Dougie covered his mouth with the back of his hand, clearly trying not to laugh, but his shaking shoulders gave him away; Harry most likely choked on saliva – or his own tongue – and nearly coughed his lungs out, his face becoming all red from his fit; Danny could only look from grandchild to grandmother with a dumbfounded expression, his mouth hanging open and unable to emit any sound; and Tom tried to get up from his seat, smacked his knee on the table. And ended up with his face buried on Danny's shoulder, as he writhed in pain.

"Aww! Young love is so adorable!" she cooed, watching the youths interact.

~#~

All misunderstandings were cleared up, and the boys all seemed to get along well – _"too well",_ in Nan Fletcher's eyes, as she admonished them _"Be safe and use protection!"_ right before leaving. It was evident to everyone that Dougie in fact fancied Harry, so Danny thought it would be better to leave them alone to talk things out. Although he wasn't sure that 'talking' would be what Dougie wanted to do, since the blond was so _keen_ on repaying Harry and even took Harry's hands to cup his own bum saying _"Harry-kun wants to do hentai stuff to me?"_.

"I'm worried for him," Tom said, watching his friend leave with Harry, who would take him home.

"Douglas' in good hands. Harry's a gentleman, he's not going to do a thing to him," Danny said with a small smile.

"I was talking about Harold, not Dougie!" Tom scoffed, and they both guffawed. "Well, I think we should say goodbye, too. It was a pleasure meeting you, Daniel."

"Danny. Just 'Danny' is fine– Can I walk you home? I mean, if that's okay with you."

Tom's face was unreadable for a second, turned into a frown the next one and finally blossomed into a single dimpled smile. Danny found himself smiling too, and soon they were walking all the way to Tom's house, talking about their likes, dislikes, and any other trivial matter.

"Thanks, Danny. Again, I'm not letting Dougie talk me into 'borrowing' anything ever again." They shook hands and Tom turned to open his door, when Danny plucked up enough courage to speak once more.

"Are- are you doing anything tomorrow?" Tom cocked an eyebrow. "Forget it, you're probably thinking I'm some weirdo asking you out. Bye, Thomas!"

"Wait!" A pale hand wrapped around Danny's biceps and made him turn around. "I'm free tomorrow, we can do a bit of skateboarding, if you want."

"Tha' would be ace," Danny smiled, his eyes lighting up at Tom's suggestion. They agreed on meeting on the next day for some fun with his mates and shook hands again, this time Danny's grip lingering a bit longer than necessary; he was too much lost in certain brown eyes to notice it. He, then, said goodbye to his newest mate and went home with a goofy grin on his face.

"Tom," he repeated to himself. The name rolled off his tongue with such ease, like it was meant to be, and that was a good reason to why Danny had this feeling that he wouldn't ever want to lose Tom's friendship.

~#~

"Hey! Danny!" Tom waved from a few meters away, rolling on his wheels. He steeped from his skateboard and with a stomp it to his grip. "Sorry, I'm a bit late!"

"I thought you had ditched me," Danny told him in a low voice. "I probably got you bored or something."

"Don't be silly, mate!" the blond replies, nudging Danny's shoulder with his own. The gesture was small, but it's so friendly that something warm spread through their bodies, prompting them to smile.

It then began, not exactly a competition, but obviously much more than just two boys showing off a few tricks on a half pipe and a quarter pipe not too far from their homes. The sun had long died down, and a fine breeze would blow from time to time, giving them a sense of freedom when trying a more elaborated lip trick.

By the end of their session, Tom and Danny were exhausted, splayed on the cement floor, laughing at the clouds passing over them and talking about random topics, such as how many siblings, favourite ice cream flavour, among other little things. The Tom had an idea.

"Want some ice cream? Nan is experimenting with a few new flavours to go with some of her dishes, I'm sure she would give us some."

"I don't know, Tom... We'll be bothering her!" Danny explained part of the reason he didn't want to go there – the other being enduring another session of assumptions about them being a couple.

"You don't want to go after what happened last time," Tom sniggered. He could see Danny blush a bit out of the corner of his eye. "No sane person refuses free ice cream, let's go!"

Danny grabbed the hand Tom offered him and let himself be howled up and away from the pipes and wheeled their way to the Fletcher's, where some strange flavours were awaiting them. The brunet didn't realise, but the whole time he had been watching Tom with a smile in place, like he was just glad to be able to share the other boy's company.

"This way," Tom ushered, getting them inside a kitchen full of chefs running about the place and screaming many names that sounded alien to Danny.

They greeted a few of the cooks and headed to one of those horizontal fridges closed with glass that let you peek on what's inside, watching the different kinds of ice cream stare back at them. Not literally, as that would have been pretty creepy.

"Fancy some ice cream, Thomas and his friend?" A woman of round face and large smile chuckled, startling Danny. _Where did she even came from?_

"I want apricot and tuna, please, Margaret!" Tom beamed pointing his choices. "You, Dan?"

"I... I um... I'll take the same." He was too nervous about Tom casually calling him 'Dan', to be really paying attention to what flavour he would pick.

~#~

The day ended with the boys stuffing themselves with frozen treats under a tree large at the park. They arrived at the same conclusion that tuna would be great in some meal, but just plain terrible, in any other case.

"You called me 'Dan' back there. Are we really friends, now?" Danny asked trying to be as nonchalantly as possible, despite being a heap of nerves on the inside. A part of him wanted to be Tom's friend so badly, the other part kept telling him that's not _exactly _friendship.

"I did? Sorry, I won't do it again–"

"No!" Great. Now he sounded desperate. "I mean, you can call me whatever you want."

"_Whatever_ I want?" Tom repeated, putting extra emphasis on 'whatever'.

"You dick," Danny shook his head. "Oh, you have something on your face–"

Bad thinking on his part, the act of wiping Tom's cheek from apricot ice cream ended with Danny feeling the round cheek under his fingers and being too close. So close that he captured Tom's lips with his own, before pulling back scared by his own impulses, staring at a petrified Tom.

"I'm sorry! My brain went bonkers for a second–"

"You stole a kiss," Tom touched his own lips, not fully believing it.

"I'll go now! Farewell!" Danny snatched his skateboard and tried to flee. He almost succeed, wasn't for a hand spinning him back and lips sealing his own, still cold from their previous snack.

"Now, I got what is mine back," Tom stepped back, grabbing his own transport. "Try borrowing or asking for it, next time, Daniel." A single-dimpled smile marked his cue to go back home, and so he did, hopping on his skateboard and wheeling himself away.

"Wait, did I just got myself a date?"

For some reason, Danny could only think of his grandfather's words that _"sometimes, in order to gain something, you must lose something else"_. Although he didn't really lose Harry's bike, but certainly had gained a friend. A friend that made him want to smile for no reason, although he could imagine what that reason would be, and wasn't too sure about the bit about being just friends.

~Fin~

**_* Something like "We're friends, right?"._**


End file.
